A Great Desire
by Purplebird
Summary: Karen is tired of being different from the other kids her age. With the help of her greatest interest, sports, she does her best to find a place where she belongs. Her bestfriend, Melody, isn't very fond of this though...
1. Not Fitting In Feels Horrible

Notes : Karen and Fatty being brother and sisters is not official ~ just fan"made"

Chapter 1. Not fitting in feels horrible

I hate-being Different from The Other kids my age in Bull Worth Academy.  
I hate-being-treated unfairly on sports teams because I'm a girl, and 11th I Want To Have true and honest friends, and do what I like the most. Play soccer.

That was what Karen Johnson wrote lately in her diary, after Mr. Burton denied her to be on the Bullhorns small soccer team. That day her dreams fell apart.  
But she has decided to not give up - Whatever It Takes.

A typical day in Bullworth Academy. Melody, Pedro and Sheldon are sitting in the middle of the schoolyard with trading cards of various superheroes. Karen sits some distance away on a bench. She has just been rejected by the other kids because she does not have superhero cards, but baseball cards.

Karen looks down on the ground and sighs. She dangles her legs and inspects the gray gravel under her feet. She is quite used to being ditched for her interests by the other children, and she doesn't feel like she's good friends with anyone. The possible exception is Gloria, but even those two are too different.

She is also ashamed of her hopeless infatuation with Ted Thompson, the leader of the jocks clique. He would never even look her in the eyes, she believes, and she doubts that he knows that she exists. If so, she would just be an annoying little kid to him. Plus, he and Mandy are a couple.

A little bird stands on the bench just beside her. It turns its head a little, begging for food.

"I'm sorry birdie, I have no bread for you right now." Karen says, smiling comfortly.

The bird chooses to stay, but flies away quickly when a shadow appears over it and Karen. It is the bully, Tom. He's got a mad look on his face.

"It was you who snitched on me yesterday, eh?" he says with his strong New York accent. "You made me mowe The whole woman 'lawn During ma' lunch break!"

"Don't blame me, throwing firecrackers at people is against the school rules."

"I'll show you what's against the rules!" he yells and rolls his arm sleeves up more than before.

But fortunately a prefect sees Tom's behavior and it's not long before he becomes grabbed by the arm and taken to the headmaster. Karen breaths of relief. It's perhaps not so dangerous to be a girl and 11 years.

School hours end. Karen is forced to go off and shop with her nerdy big brother, Francois "Fatty" Johnson. He buys a lot of chocolate and chips to replenish The Nerd Hideout with, as they are about to organize a movie night there.

After that they carry the stuff to the Dragon's Wing Comic Store. Karen tries to keep up with two heavy bags.

"Oh brother please, how much did you buy?" she asks anxiously as she tries to carry the bags.

"Enough to last for our movie night." he says contentedly.

She shakes her head at his enormous appetite and puts the bags down in front of the door to the basement, which leads to the hideout.

"Since I was nice and helped you with the bargains, may I join in?" she says with her hands clutched together like she's about to pray.

Fatty looks doubtful.

"Nah ... it's nerds only. You're more of a jock to be honest."

"A jock? Just because I like sports and actually exercise, it doesn't mean I'm a jock! "

Fatty unlocks the door to the basement, walks inside and put the bags down on a table. Then he opens the door slightly, just to peek out and glare at his sister..

"Either way, you're not a nerd. Gotta go." is his response, as he closes the door in front of her. 


	2. Proving Them Wrong

Chapter 2. Proving Them Wrong

Karen stands above the grandstand at the schools football field, with her hands on the railing. She dreams of being with the jocks when they play, despite her age, gender and small stature.

She looks at them while they are training American football, Damon is as usual one of the fastest. But her gaze stops on Ted. Ted which she have been in love with for so long, even before he and Mandy became officially together.

After a while she turns her shoe and walks away from the grandstand. She likes the smell of this place. Plastics, rubber, the scent of the grass... This is where she belongs, she is sure of it.

On a basketball court Dan and Bo is playing. They doesn't notice Karen. She is lucky that Damon is training football so he won't attack her for being on their ground.

Suddenly she gets a basketball thrown in her head. She turns to Dan and Bo, and they are pointing innocently at each other. She scratches her head where the ball bounced off and doesn't look happy. At all.

"What is your problem?" she says angrily, throwing back the ball hardly against Dan, who gets it in the stomach and flies down onto the ground.

They're both shocked, and Dan groans of pain.

"Chill, kid. We didn't mean to throw it at you!" he says while getting up.

"Then how come the basketball is on the other side, hmm?" she says suspiciously, crossing her arms.

"I dunno, maybe your head's magnetic!" Bo says jokingly - making Dan laugh, "Haha that one was good, dude!"

Karen walks up to them both and steals the basketball right from Dans hands. Then she bounces it on the ground several times and catches it.

"Let's play a little game. Me against you two."

The boys look at each other and laugh again.

"You? You must be like 5 inches tall, but ok. If you want to lose so badly then bring it on." Bo says with a cocky tone while getting in position.

Karen almost stands outside of the basket area and dribbles through it. Bo tries to jump up and block, but Karen succeeds to bounce the ball under his legs and take it behind him. Dan stands prepared by her side and stretches out his arm, but she tackles him very hard and throws the ball from the side up to the basket. It goes through.

Dan and Bo are truly amazed by the tough little 11-year-old with low pigtails. Karen once again takes the ball and throws it high up towards the basket, and it goes through again.

"Maybe we judged you too fast, kid." Dan says, and receives the ball.

"Yeah you're pretty damn good, we better tell the others about this!" Bo yells and Dan agrees. They run away towards the field. Karen stands below the basketball hoop and smiles happily. Finally.

After a few hours, the door to room 7 in the Girls Dorm opens. Karen enters and on one of the beds sits a very grumpy-looking Melody.

"What have you been doing?" she asks cheeky and lies down in her bed.

"Playing basketball and hanging out with the jocks. And you?"

"Been waiting for you." Melody snorts, barely half a second after Karen's response.

"For me? But you were at the freak show with Gloria ..."

"I know, but we were going to ask if you wanted to go with us, but you never came back from when you and your brother was shopping. "

"Oh..." Karen says a little embarrassed, sitting on her bed.

"And then it hit me - maybe you were one of the freaks at the Freak Show because that is where you live, but I didn't see you there so then I assumed you were somewhere else. "

The dodgy statement by Melody hurt Karen. To think that her own best friend can say something like that, of course, even after being mean and rejecting her on the school grounds.

"Whatever." Karen says, and turns off the light on her desk lamp.

Melody is still awake. Staring at Karen. Angrily. 


	3. Leave or Let Go

Chapter 3. Leave or Let Go

In the school cafeteria the next day - Melody, Pedro, Sheldon and Gloria are sitting together. Not a glimpse of Karen. Sheldon says that she is just a bit late, because of her soccer training. Melody doesn't like this a bit.

And it was true, cus' in the cafeteria, Karen, after taking food, goes to sit down by Casey, Damon, Kirby, Mandy and Ted. The four kids turn their heads, staring at her surprisingly.

"Karen scares me..." Pedro whispers.

"Who doesn't she scare? She just left us, straight off." Melody says, resting her head in the palm of her hand and poking her food with the other.

"Oh." Gloria takes a bite out of her boiled potato. "She is still young, and is changing her social circle depending on what she is interested in."

Even Fatty is surprised by Karen's new place in the cafeteria. He, Cornelius and Melvin sits on the edge of the middle table. He is afraid that Karen will get revenge on him with the jocks now because she wasn't allowed to participate in the movie night. Or...

Other ideas came up in his head as well. Perhaps jocks would respect Fatty now that his sister is one of them. Was it that way - Fatty would certainly have status enough to be leader of the nerd-clique.

"Great game today or what?" Damon says with satisfaction.

"Yes, and we wouldn't have won it without Johnson's help!" Ted says and pushes Karen with his armbow in a joke-ish way.

"I was going to get more food, you want more Johnson?" Casey asks Karen.

"No thanks, but it was nice of you asking!" Karen responds cheerfully and continues her funny conversation with the jocks.

Melody can't take her eyes off her 'former' best friend who now have fun with others. Others which aren't like Melody herself.

She gets flashbacks about how it used to be between her and Karen before this occurred. When Fatty was in charge of the Funhouse - Melody and Karen were prohibited to be in there, but went in anyway and hid from him for fun. When they shopped various goods for Melody's mother, and drove around in carts over half of Bullworth Town. When they bathed in the sea of Old Bullworth Vale and Bif threw Karen from the bridge when she didn't dare to jump into the water.

They have been through a lot, and Melody now believes that this could be the end. But she don't want it to be.

After school, Karen walks into the Girls Dorm, as usual. She is humming a song while packing up books from her school bag, into the bottom of a drawer in her room.  
Melody is behind her, leaning against the door end. She squints her eyes.

"Hrrm." she clears her throat, to catch the jock-girls attention.

Karen turns her head and smiles ...

"Oh hello, Melody."

... and then returns to the "sorting of books"-activity.

"Karen!" Melody yells loudly, with her fists clenched.

She stops sorting books and turns to her angry friend.

"Me or them?" Melody then says, and swallows a big lump of saliva.

"What are you talking about?" Karen asks, really worried.

"I said - me or your new 'friends'? Now it's time to choose."

"But Mel, I... they... I will not choose anyone over anybody..."

"I knew it. I simply knew it. Well, have fun with your new, buff, stupid friends." Melody's eyes start to tear, "Don't care about me, you never did anyway."

She starts crying and runs out of the room, out to the rainy schoolyard. Pushing Lola and Christy accidentaly on her way out.

Karen hurries to the window and watches her friend leave the schoolyard, through the gates. She rushes fast out to the schoolyard, but doesn't see Melody anywhere outside, and she has no idea where outside the academy Melody may have ran off to.

Very wet, Karen goes back to the Dorm, up to her room, and crawls into her bed. Then she closes her eyes and let the sleep get ahold of her. 


End file.
